Cooper Raiff & ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’: The Limits of Making a Film about Your Own Cuteness

‘Indie film” may be conflated in the popular imagination with “edgy film,” but a quality of the Sundance Film Festival that doesn’t get much notice is how, year after year, many of its marquee offerings turn out to be conventional, sweet, and nice. A case in point is this year’s Cha Cha Real Smooth, which is as edgy as a tub of margarine.

Not that it’s a bad movie; it simply has no impact. The writer-director-star of this cinematic bildungsroman, which has just debuted at Sundance, is Cooper Raiff, and, gosh, Cooper Raiff really wants you to like Cooper Raiff. Perhaps you will. Perhaps you’ll love him. He’s a completely charming and lovable guy, according to Cooper Raiff.

About the Author

Kyle Smith

Kyle Smith is the film critic for the Wall Street Journal.

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‘Indie film” may be conflated in the popular imagination with “edgy film,” but a quality of the Sundance Film Festival that doesn’t get much notice is how, year after year, many of its marquee offerings turn out to be conventional, sweet, and nice. A case in point is this year’s Cha Cha Real Smooth, which is as edgy as a tub of margarine.

Not that it’s a bad movie; it simply has no impact. The writer-director-star of this cinematic bildungsroman, which has just debuted at Sundance, is Cooper Raiff, and, gosh, Cooper Raiff really wants you to like Cooper Raiff. Perhaps you will. Perhaps you’ll love him. He’s a completely charming and lovable guy, according to Cooper Raiff.